Korea Dropping Japanese Address System

[Mulboyne]

AFP: 'Streetwise' South Korea drops Japanese legacy
After decades of confusion, South Korea has ditched its traditional address system and adopted one based on named streets and consecutively-numbered buildings. But many residents are less than happy, saying a cultural legacy has been abandoned in the name of logic. From July 29 all the country's 5.68 million houses, apartments and other buildings were given new legal addresses -- meaning they replace old addresses in official documents such as IDs, property registration forms and contracts. Traditional addresses, in use since 1910, identify specific land lots. The address of a typical Seoul house is: Seoul City, a gu (ward), a dong (neighbourhood), and the number of the lot on which it stands. In many cases the lot number was assigned in the order in which buildings were erected, not in street order. The system -- adopted during the Japanese colonial occupation -- has proved a boon to makers of satellite navigation systems but mystifying for many others. Invitations to social or business events routinely include a map...more...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Good for them.

[Iraira]

The address of a typical Seoul house is: Seoul City, a gu (ward), a dong (neighbourhood), and the number of the lot on which it stands. In many cases the lot number was assigned in the order in which buildings were erected, not in street order.

Sorry...feeling kinda Beavis & Butthead tonight.

[maraboutslim]

What other Japanese legacies are they going to drop? Are they going to blow up the ports and railways and rebuild them next?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

What other Japanese legacies are they going to drop?

Pretty hard to complain about them dropping this one...it should have been one of the first to have been done away with, IMHO.

Anyone looking for evidence of "inscrutable" Japanese need only look at a goddamned Tokyo street map.

[wagyl]

Anyone looking for evidence of "inscrutable" Japanese need only look at a goddamned Tokyo street map.

It is actually not a lot different from the situation in rural Ireland, except that they do away with those pesky numbers altogether. Try finding which Farmer Black Pat Murphy you are looking for in Garryheakin.
Northern Ireland has had the system modernised by edict, so in effect "Tiocfaidh ar la" depending upon your point of view.

[TennoChinko]

It sounds to me that the Koreans are ditching a system that works in favor of something more politically-correct (eg ABJ - Anything But Japanese). They've also done the same with any historical buildings with a Japanese-connection like the Seoul Capitol (destroyed in 1996) and the Seoul City Hall (demolished in 2006). As maraboutslim suggested, if the Koreans wish to be consistent in their nationalistic fervor and move all traces of Japanese rule, they ought to start dismantling their rail and port infrastructure in favor of All-Korean solutions. The Chinese can show them how starting with their awesome world-class bullet trains which they did absolutely created from scratch without any influence from Japanese technology or designs....

[maraboutslim]

I will admit that it is a stupid address system for the modern world. When I'd explain how addresses work in Japan to people, I'd say, "well, it's basically like milky way, earth, northern hemisphere, eastern hemisphere, asia, japan, kanagawa prefecture, yokohama-city, kohoku-ward, futou-cho, then just start looking around..."

[Samurai_Jerk]

It sounds to me that the Koreans are ditching a system that works in favor of something more politically-correct

Dude, regardless of the reason, getting rid of that address system is a good thing.

[matsuki]

Pretty hard to complain about them dropping this one...it should have been one of the first to have been done away with, IMHO.

Anyone looking for evidence of "inscrutable" Japanese need only look at a goddamned Tokyo street map.

You mean that spilled spaghetti mess of lines they call a map of Tokyo?

The favorite excuse for this mess is "it was intentional," citing the grid system in Kyoto as being too easy to invade. While this is true, they had quite a chance to rebuild the city in a reasonable way after WWII when they, well, rebuilt the city. But TIJ...

Also of note, now they are realizing how fucked the east/west Hz power difference is when one side takes a big hit to the grid. Now would be the perfect chance to standardize to one system and make a gazillion Yen by selling adapters in the mean time. Will it happen? Not likely...

[Ganma]

But many residents are less than happy, saying a cultural legacy has been abandoned in the name of logic.

I guess logic is not a part of Korean culture?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Northern Ireland has had the system modernised by edict, so in effect "Tiocfaidh ar la" depending upon your point of view.

Cheeky bugger!!!
Too true, but in Ireland you're talking about areas with low populations and low population densities and everyone knows everyone else and you can find your way by stopping anyone and asking for directions (provided you're also willing to stomach the craic that comes with it).
Tokyo and Seoul are megalopolises somehow functioning under the same system.
But as Seoul has shown, indeed, tiocfaidh ar la (and bonus points for sticking it up the colonial oppressor, too).

[Jack]

You mean that spilled spaghetti mess of lines they call a map of Tokyo?

..

It's not different than Paris or London.